UMD To Host Conference on Building Community Support for
Healthy Children and Families

February 2
"Community Connections: A Dialogue"

Event Aimed at Fostering Collaboration
Between Community Professionals and University Faculty

The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) Department of Psychology and Department of Education will host a conference on the development of community support systems for building healthy families, titled "Community Connections: A Dialogue". The conference is set for February 2, 9 a.m. to 12noon, in the Rafters Room, 3rd floor UMD Kirby Student Center.

The goal of the conference is to foster collaboration between community professionals and university faculty, who work with the issues of building healthy children and families through community support.

The event will offer a forum for professionals to discuss current topics of community social dynamics and family support issues. Aims of the conference are to link practice with policy and to identify steps toward:

improved family stability

increased community support for children and families

improved service provision to children and families

emphasis on building social capital and community

The keynote speech, titled "Raising Resilient Children in a Risky World: A Call for University-Community Action" will be delivered by Martha Erickson, director of the Harris Program at the University of Minnesota Center for Early Education and Development.

Dr. Erickson is co-chair of the President's Initiative on Children, Youth and Families. She specializes in linking research, practice and policy in the areas of parent-child attachment, child abuse prevention, and children's mental health.